


What If? Continued

by LilyEllison



Series: What If? [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23700487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilyEllison/pseuds/LilyEllison
Summary: Another collection of canon divergence ficlets and future musings.What If...1. Karen moved in with Matt and Foggy after college?2. Karen got caught kissing Daredevil?
Relationships: Matt Murdock/Karen Page
Series: What If? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706845
Comments: 33
Kudos: 31





	1. What if ... Karen moved in with Matt and Foggy after college?

**Author's Note:**

> My first "What If?" collection was becoming unwieldy, so it's time for part two.

**Prompt from[Anonymous on Tumblr](https://lily-ellison.tumblr.com/post/615564723304497152/p-random-idea-foggy-and-matt-as-roommates-after): Random idea: Foggy and Matt as roommates after college. Karen is one of the girls Matt invites over.** (I took it in a slightly different direction!)

“It’s three bedrooms, Foggy,” Matt said irritably. “It doesn’t matter if it’s in the perfect location and it’s actually big enough to turn around in. It’s only affordable if we split the rent three ways. And there are two of us.”

“Well…”

“Oh, no, don’t tell me you’re going to foist some random weird guy on me. It’s taken me this long just to get used to living with you.”

“It’s not some random weird guy,” Foggy said firmly.

“Who, then?”

“A random hopefully-not-weird girl?”

Matt scoffed.

“Wait, hear me out. She’s a secretary downstairs in the financial department. She’s so sweet. Her name’s Karen, and she’s looking for a new place. She just moved to New York, and some guy got murdered in her building, and the thought of sharing an apartment with two strong and ruggedly handsome dudes might not be the worst thing right now.”

Matt laughed despite his annoyance.

“Just meet her. You’ll love her.”

“Sounds like you already do.”

“It’s true that I am not insensible to her charms,” Foggy said archly.

“So do you want to date her or live with her?”

“I’m extremely open to both.”

“Doesn’t sound like much fun for me.”

“You won’t have to worry about it, because you’ll have your own room with your own door in a place that’s big enough that we won’t have to be up in each other’s chili all day and night.”

“Fine,” Matt said, sure he’d regret it. “I’ll meet her.”

* * *

“That’s the last one,” Karen said breathlessly, putting a box down and flopping into a chair.

“Hallelujah,” Foggy said. Matt heard their high-five from the kitchen. “We’re finally all moved in.”

“Except for all the unpacking I still have to do,” Karen said tiredly.

She wasn’t alone there — Matt had plenty of stuff that needed to be put away, too. He headed for his bedroom, moving quickly through the living room. He’d have to make an obvious maneuver to go around the box, so he pretended he didn’t know it was in his way. He “tripped” exaggeratedly but “caught” himself before falling.

“Oh, sorry,” Karen said, scrambling to move the box.

“Is it too much trouble to keep your stuff out of the middle of the floor in here?” Matt asked grumpily.

“No, not at all,” she apologized. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

He continued on to his bedroom without acknowledging her.

“I think he hates me,” he heard Karen whisper to Foggy.

“He doesn’t hate you,” Foggy whispered back. “He probably just needs some time to get used to living with another person, that’s all. He’ll warm up.”

But Foggy was wrong. Matt couldn’t warm up to Karen. He couldn’t let himself like her too much — and he couldn’t let her like him, either. Because he’d noticed the way her pulse jumped around him, and the heat that rose into her skin when they talked. And she smelled too good, and her voice sounded too sweet to his ears, and goddamn it, Foggy was into her.

And that meant for Matt, she was so untouchable, she might as well be living on the moon instead of just in the next room.

* * *

There were too many sirens tonight. Too many troubling things happening throughout the Kitchen. Matt couldn’t sleep.

Usually Matt could find a way to avoid them. He could listen to Foggy’s steady heartbeat, his rhythmic breathing, his untroubled rest, until Matt managed to relax.

But a couple of weeks ago, Foggy had been assigned to help on the same case that Marci was working on, and their on-again, off-again thing seemed to be back on again. Foggy hadn’t been sleeping at home.

Karen was home, but Karen’s heart wasn’t any help to him. She had frequent nightmares and never seemed to sleep well. Focusing his attention on Karen just made him feel for her. It just made him want to go down the hall and put his arms around her.

They were friends now, at least. He’d tried to keep his prickly distance at first, but she’d wormed her way into his heart anyway. It was her unfailing kindness, even when he was being a standoffish jerk; the way she raised hell when a Landman and Zack secretary was wrongly fired, until the firm caved and rehired the woman; the way just being around her made him smile, even when it felt like everything else was going wrong.

So he ached at night in his bed, but in the daytime, he did all he could to keep his feelings in check.

When he heard Karen get up and go to the kitchen for some water, he couldn’t stop himself from following.

“Oh no,” she said. “Did I wake you?”

“No. Can’t sleep. Same for you?”

“Yeah. Ever since that guy got killed upstairs at my old place, I’ve been having trouble.” It was true, but there was still a note of falsehood to it. Her nights had probably been haunted before that. Matt knew what that was like.

She sipped her water and put the glass down on the counter. “I just feel so helpless. And I’m so damn tired of it.”

“Come with me,” he said.

“What?”

“Get your jacket. Let’s go out.”

* * *

He taped her hands for her. “It’s amazing that you can do that by feel,” she said. He smiled, and he told her to put on a pair of gloves.

And then he showed her the right way to punch. He had to pretend he wasn’t as good at it as he was. He had to reach out for the bag to “know” it was there. But it was worth it for the satisfying thwacks coming from her bag, and the focused way she pummeled it. She was into it, he could tell.

“Wow,” she said when she needed a break, stripping off her gloves. “That was great.”

“It’s been my favorite stress relief since I was young,” he said. “I guess it’s in my blood.”

She reached up and rested her hand on his arm. “Thank you. Really.”

“Of course,” he said quietly. The moment felt charged and he knew he should break away, pop the bubble that had descended around them. But he didn’t.

She moved closer. “Can I—” she breathed unevenly — “I’d really like to kiss you.”

“Karen,” he sighed, and her face inched steadily nearer to his. “We can’t.”

She pulled back in confusion. “Why?”

“Foggy.”

“Foggy?”

“He likes you.”

“Foggy our roommate?”

“Yeah.”

“Foggy our roommate who is probably having sex with somebody else as we speak?”

“Uh, yeah,” Matt said sheepishly.

She huffed out a laugh, shaking her head. “I think you’re safe there, Matt. I think you can kiss me if you want to.”

And he reached out, and he cupped her cheek. “I want to,” he murmured, and he pressed his mouth to hers.


	2. What if ... Karen got caught kissing Daredevil?

**Prompt from[Sarah](https://archiveofourown.org/comments/296021584): 1) Daredevil running away from fan girls or 2) Karen taking him to a pro-Daredevil rally (you decide if she knows who he is or not). ;-)**

"What's the occasion?" Matt asked as he landed without a sound on her rooftop.

Karen had lured him there with soft music and the subtle pop of a champagne cork. "We're celebrating," she said.

Ever since Matt had shown her how easy — relatively speaking — it was to get up on the roof of her building from the fire escape, it had become one of her favorite spots. And now that she knew she could make it up there with a bottle of bubbly and a little Bluetooth speaker, it was completely perfect.

"But what are we celebrating?" he asked with a grin.

She handed him a plastic cup of champagne and then tapped her own against it. Not the classiest — there was a definite lack of clinkage — but there was only so much glass she was willing to make the jump with.

"Ellison called me a little bit ago, and you're not going to believe it."

Matt took a tiny sip. "You don't have any water, do you?" he asked.

"I knew you were going to say that," she said, amused. She took back the cup and handed him a bottle of water instead. He drank deeply.

"Will you please just tell me what I'm not going to believe?" he asked when he'd swallowed.

"The Bulletin is publishing the results of its Favorite Hometown Hero poll tomorrow, and you'll never guess who's on top."

Matt shrugged. "Captain America?"

"No, you idiot. You!" Karen laughed. "They surveyed the whole New York metropolitan area, and you beat them all. Every Avenger. Even Spider-Man."

"Even Spider-Man?"

Matt's tiny smirky smile was too much for her. She had to kiss him.

"Sorry," he said when they finally broke apart. "I know I'm in extra need of a shower tonight."

"It's OK," she said. "I just wanted you to know. It's ... well, it's a big deal, you know, given everything that happened with...the imposter. It means a lot."

"Yeah," Matt breathed.

She knew there was probably a lot going on in that mind of his, but she didn't expect him to say more right now. "All right, go hit the shower. I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Popular."

He leaned in for one more quick kiss and then he was gone.

* * *

"Hey, Karen, I'm glad I caught you."

Ellison's voice sounded worried, and Karen's forehead creased. "What's up?"

"Are you sitting down?"

"I am, actually," Karen said. She was at her desk at Nelson, Murdock & Page. Matt and Foggy were out to lunch, but she'd stayed behind, expecting a call as part of a background check she was running. "Tell me what's going on."

Ellison sighed. "I just had a visit from Chris in the photo department, along with someone who's trying to sell a picture he took of Daredevil last night."

"That's not the first time that's happened," Karen said, her stomach feeling icy. Oh, god. Had Matt's mask slipped or something? Was he identifiable?

"No," Ellison said, "but this is the first time anyone’s tried to sell me a photo of Daredevil _kissing_ someone."

"What?" Karen gasped.

"The photographer doesn't know who you are. The quality isn't great. It was just a lucky shot from his apartment window last night. But I knew it was you right away, Karen. And it's not going to be long before someone else figures it out."

"Oh my god."

"The Globe is definitely going to run with this. I wouldn't be surprised if the picture goes online soon. You need to be prepared. This is going to be a big deal, especially coming right after our poll. Daredevil is the biggest celebrity in New York right now."

"Oh my god."

"I feel like I should apologize. I knew Daredevil was a source of yours. I knew he helped you. That's why I told you about the poll. I thought you'd be pleased. But I didn't know—I didn't realize you were—well, that you were actually in a relationship with him."

"We're not—" Karen cut herself off, not knowing how much she should say. She and Matt had only been dating for a few weeks, it was all so new, and she'd already fucked it all up. She didn't realize her rooftop was so exposed. "It's complicated," she finished weakly.

"So... how long has this been going on? The whole time?"

"Um, it's been off and on, I guess you'd say?" Her mind was racing. "Thank you so much for calling to tell me. I really appreciate it. But I should—I should go."

"Of course. Take care of yourself, Karen. Let me know if I can help."

She nodded but forgot to say anything out loud. She hung up and sat there, stunned.

* * *

"Holy shit, there are photographers actually camping out down there," Foggy said from the window.

"They followed me from my apartment," Karen said as she put her things down on her desk. "I had to jump in a cab. It was really intense."

Foggy crossed the office and hugged her. "Are you OK?"

Karen shook her head wearily. "This is a nightmare."

"Oh, chin up," he said. "There are worse ways to get your fifteen minutes of fame than making out with a superhero."

"Are you kidding? I don't want to be the love interest." Karen frowned. "I think I liked it better when that bomber was writing to me."

"Don't say that," Foggy said sternly.

"OK, you're right. It could be worse." She sighed. "But I don't know how Matt's taking this."

"I'm taking it just fine," Matt said, coming in. He wrapped his arms around Karen once the door was closed behind him. "This isn't your fault." He kissed her forehead. "It's mine. I should have been more careful."

"No—"

"OK, enough with the blame game," Foggy interrupted. "We need to have an actual plan for dealing with this, not a meeting of the hair shirt club, all right?"

Karen and Matt both nodded guiltily.

"First of all, you two definitely can't be seen together, kissing or otherwise, or someone's going to connect the dots. Don't leave the office together. Don't go to each other's places. You're going to have to let this die down."

"You're right," Matt said. "It's already out of control. I was trying to help someone being mugged last night and instead of running away, he started filming me. And later, two teenage girls saw me and started screaming and trying to follow me. It was...surreal."

"Then maybe you should stay off the streets, Matt. Don't go out for a few days."

"Won't that just make any footage of him more valuable when he finally does? I can lay low, but I think Matt should still do his thing. Just be extra careful." Karen sighed. "If your routine is normal and they don't catch you with me, eventually they'll get bored. Trying to hide from them only gives them a sense they're on to something. It gives them something to chase."

"OK," Matt said. "But how long is it going to take before they get bored?"

* * *

Karen waited until Foggy was on a call that sounded like it would take awhile.

Then she went into Matt's office and closed the door. She walked across to the lone window and pulled the shade. He was already standing up from his desk.

"Hi," she said when he reached out and pulled her close.

"Hi," he answered, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I miss you." They'd been hiding from the paparazzi for several days now, and the separation was starting to feel unbearable.

"I know the feeling," Matt said, leaning in to kiss her.

Karen didn't feel quite equal to controlling herself today. She couldn't stop herself from turning on the heat, until Matt was groaning low in his throat. Her hands were all over him, sliding under his jacket, as he pressed her backward toward his desk. She reached out to steady herself, but she caught a stack of books instead and they clattered to the floor with a series of bangs.

"At least wait until I go home, guys," Foggy called out.

But even that wouldn't work. The paps knew Matt and Foggy well now, and they'd know if Foggy left but Matt and Karen were still in the office. And the two of them, working late... Karen was trying to avoid even a whiff of suspicion.

"I guess we just have to be good for a while longer," she said.

Matt's hands were still on her hips and she felt them tighten. "No. We've got to do something," he said.

* * *

"I have an exclusive for you, if you want it," Karen told her old boss over the phone.

"Duh," Ellison said.

"Do you want to transfer me to a reporter?"

"No, I think I'll write this one myself. It's good to dust off the old chops."

"OK," Karen said, taking a deep breath. "Daredevil and I have decided that we can no longer continue to see each other."

"I thought you might say that. I'm sorry."

"It's OK. We're confident this will be better for both of us in the long run."

* * *

"Daredevil asks the people of New York to respect his privacy during this difficult time," Foggy read from the next day's issue of the Bulletin. "Aww, I think I'm going to cry."

Karen laughed. "Ellison's still got it."

"And hopefully, everything will go back to normal soon," Matt said. "I definitely prefer obscurity to this kind of popularity."

Karen followed him as he went back into his office. "It's still going to be a while before we can be seen together," she said with disappointment, closing the door behind them.

"I know," he said, pulling the shade on the window.

"I wouldn't want anyone to think the breakup happened because I was cheating on Daredevil," she teased.

She moved to kiss him, but he stopped her. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Miss Page? I mean, you are on the rebound."

"Oh, you're right," she said, pulling away.

"Wait, wait, wait," Matt said, tugging her back. "You know what they say about the best way to get over someone..."

"I think Foggy would object to me getting under someone else right now."

Matt put his finger on her lips. "And I think what Foggy doesn't know won't hurt him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could've been a full-blown story, but I'm trying to keep my prompt fills quick and dirty, since I'm working on so much stuff right now. If someone else wants to take this idea and run with it, I'd love to read it!


End file.
